Wellspring UMC; First Sunday of Advent; December 2, 2007: “The Light of the Lord is Peace”:

Psalm 122 (UMH 845); Isaiah 2: 1-5

Today begins the season of Advent. Advent comes from the Latin word, advenio, which means ‘to come.’ This is a season where we anticipate 2 comings – the final coming of Christ, and the coming of the Christ Child at Christmas. As I said last week, it’s an interesting season for we are invited to slow down and not go to the manger but reflect upon who we are, whose we are, what it means that one day all of life will be transformed by Christ’s return...what it means that Christ came to earth 2000 years ago as a vulnerable baby to two peasants. Advent is a season of watching, waiting, and anticipating Christ’s comings. In some ways it is unique, but in other ways, it reminds us that this anticipation of Christ entering the world and our lives, is something we should be cognizant of all the time.

From a very young age, my oldest son, Caleb, attended church. Teresa sang in the praise band and I was up front, so the kids were either in the nursery or in church. He outgrew the nursery so he ended up with us. He did very well and learned quickly how to sit and be quiet throughout the service.

The service was somewhat unique in that it ended with communion, then after communion, we gathered in a circle and closed with a prayer, always ending with the Lord’s Prayer. Caleb followed the directive of the rest, and dutifully came up for communion every Sunday, then afterward stood in that circle and prayed with us. Whenever he was with us, everyone anticipated the Lord’s Prayer, because we’d always hear, “Our Father who art in heaven...” Our Father art in heaven.” “Hallowed be thy name...Hallowed be thy name.” We’d pray a line, and he would repeat it...and we’d wait for him to finish before starting the next. It was a powerful thing for the adults to be reciting the prayer, then in the silence to hear a child’s voice repeating the same. Even more powerful was the understanding that in our waiting, he was being discipled. Through our giving him the time to follow his elders, not only was he receiving the faith, but we were reminded, not just of our own process of discipleship, but we received the power of a single, child’s voice proclaiming to the world, God’s truth. We remembered that in the waiting, there is learning, growing, and development toward God’s intention for us.

I always loved hearing him pray in that setting, but what struck me and made me pause every time was when we’d got to the line, “Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” We’d breath, and we’d wait as we heard, ‘Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven...’ Whenever I heard that, and now whenever I hear or recite it myself, I hear that child voice proclaiming something that is incomprehensible by human terms; that God’s Kingdom would come on earth, just as it is in heaven.

Have you ever thought about that statement? About the concept? We say it every week, but do we really mean it? Do we really remember and believe that one day God’s Kingdom will come to earth? That one day this life, this earth, all that there is, will be transformed with the coming of the Messiah? But even more so, that when we look to that truth, when we place ourselves in the midst of that narrative and live it out, that God speaks through us, uses us to bring about a glimpse of God’s Kingdom coming to earth as in heaven?

Think about this statement of faith. What does that look like? What does that feel like? What does that mean to us? What might that look like to the street kid in Rio or the prostitute in Harlem? Or what about the widow in Sudan or hurricane survivor in New Orleans? Or the Iraqi soldier on the front lines or the American soldier in Walter Reed?

“Thy Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven...”

When we pray these words, we state that this truth is not just possible, but it is the culmination of God’s plan. That one day, Christ will return, and when He does, everything will be changed. No longer will there be war or crying or pain. No longer will there be division, but God’s Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven! It’s a pretty bold statement of faith, for it means that ultimately, God’s desire for God’s creation is peace and wholeness...a far cry from the reality we see today.

You may have noticed that both of our scripture verses for today come from the Old Testament, and both center around the city of Jerusalem. Jerusalem was believed to be the center of the universe, the center of faith, the place where God’s Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven. Both anticipate the redemption of the world by the God of Creation, and both invite us to live into the Truth that there will be a final coming of the Messiah.

The Psalmist begins with these words, “I was glad when they said, ‘Let us go to the house of the Lord!...let us go to Jerusalem, the place of God’s dwelling, for there all will be made well. Pray for the peace of Jerusalem,” the psalmist says, “pray for God’s peace to be within you and seek God’s good, for in seeking God’s good comes God’s peace for self and for those around you.” Join with God, follow God’s lead...”Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”

The prophet Isaiah speaks in a unique time and place, for Judah, in which resided the Holy City, is about to be invaded by the Assyrians. They know the invasion is coming, and they have a pretty good idea that they will not come out on top. Indeed, they were conquered and exiled from their homeland. And yet the prophet proclaims, “In the days to come, the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established as the highest...all nations will return to Jerusalem, all will turn to God, and God will teach us His ways, so we might walk in His path. He shall judge all, and swords shall be beaten into instruments of peace and abundance, spears into that which prunes for further growth, and nations shall not lift up swords against another, and there will be no more war. Come, followers of God, let us walk in the light of the Lord!” Come and follow, and be a part of the revealing of God’s Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven.

Throughout this season of Advent we’ll be hearing from the Prophet Isaiah as we focus upon God’s purposes for Peace. Today we reflect upon the light of the Lord is our peace, next week we’ll focus on the Spirit of the Lord being our peace, and then the hope then the joy of the Lord is our peace. God’s intention all along and God’s intention is that one day God’s creation will be whole, that God’s peace, harmony, and love would reign. Ultimately, God’s Kingdom will come on earth as it is in heaven, and God knows that is desperately needed.

We turn on the news and there is yet another American casualty in the so-called war on terror, and that’s not to mention the lives lost among enemies. We stand in disbelief as a young, promising football star is shot in the leg, simply because a few folks saw an opportunity to steal his goods. We shake our heads at decisions made by individuals or governments that make a way for those who have to gain more while those who do not stand to lose more. We stand by and watch as children starve to death every minute and the AIDS epidemic continues to spread. We pray, “Thy Kingdom come, they will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

We yearn for God’s Kingdom to come. We anticipate that Kingdom coming, and we wonder...no we look for the Light of the Lord...our peace...to come. But we must be careful when we pray, for there is something about prayer that changes us, that opens our eyes, that leads us to places we might not want to go. When we pray such things, reflecting upon the state of the world, we might just find that God begins to work on our hearts, work on our minds. We find that God reveals that we are part of God’s Kingdom, that we are players in God’s plan... instruments of Christ’s light and peace in the world.

At our Annual Conference this year, our guest speaker on Tuesday evening was Mike Slaughter, the pastor at Ginghamsburg UMC in Tipp City, OH. With a focus on Evangelism, he lifted up the importance of what it means to be ‘evangels,’ sharers of the Good News of Jesus Christ. Slaughter hit this from many angles, but one of the ways he expressed this was in sharing what Ginghamsburg has done to witness to Christ love to the people of Darfur. They have made it a personal mission to rebuild villages, set up schools, and provide water for that country, and in the last two Christmases, they have collected over $2.1 million which has gone directly to the people of Sudan.

That in itself got everyone to thinking, and the next logical question was, “how did they do that?” Anticipating this he explained that though this is an ongoing mission, the bulk of that funding came through full congregational buy in to the Truth that, “Christmas is not our birthday, but it’s Jesus’ birthday.” Slaughter explained that, because it’s Jesus birthday, he challenged everyone to give as much money toward the ministry in Darfur as they did in gifts to family and friends. And the amazing thing is that they did it.

I often listen to Slaughter’s podcasts, and he tells story after story of how people made a way for such giving to occur. Some gave out of their abundance, but some made that commitment then raised the funds on their own. Some of the youth put on a fashion show and raised $1000. A small group got together and had a yard sale and raised $500. Stories are told about how God has made a way for them to give abundantly, and always he tells of how God has used those funds for wells to be dug, schools to be built, medicine and clinics to bring healing, and in the midst of the stories...on both sides of the stories, it proclaimed the truth of that prayer, “Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in heaven.”

And the result, the reality of such faith is that the light of the world is revealed, and the light of the Lord is peace.

‘Tis the season of Advent, a time of intentional reflection upon the comings of Christ, a time when we align ourselves again to the Truth of our Lord’s Prayer, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” The question is, dare we pray it? Or even more so, dare we live into that call, for when we do we are called to task, but when we follow that call, we are blessed and a blessing to be the light of the Lord, Christ’s peace.

When we come to this table, we come as a witness to that light. When we receive this bread and cup, we accept the call to be the light of peace for this world. The psalmist proclaims, “Let us go to the house of the Lord,” Isaiah proclaims, “Come let us walk in the light of the Lord,” and Christ, the Light of the world, invites us to join Him...join them...and embody a peace that ushers in the kingdom of God on earth as it is in heaven. Amen.